Meguiar's DA Power tool

This is a discussion on Meguiar's DA Power tool within the Showcar and Detailing forums, part of the General Help category; Hey guys! I got some water spots and surface scratches I need to take care of on my new car. ...

DA systems are great for beginners in detailing. They are designed to keep you from burning up the paint. Just keep it moving and you should be fine. GM clear is hard. Tape off some test spots on panels that aren't highly visible to test it out and see which you need to use to get the results you want.

If they are vinyl then tape of the edges. Save yourself the hassle of cleaning that mess. You could use some Meguiar's Quik Wax on the vinyls. That will add some protection to them. Other than that I would not use anything on them like a polish or compound with abrasives in it. If you have ultimate wax, the liquid version will not stain trim.

Meguiar's DA Power tool

Thanks Guz. I've been doing some research on them and it seems like there is no good way of polishing them so I'll probably just stick to car wash soap and water for the stripes. They still look new so I'm not too worried about them atm.

Well I do have a brand new 20V Dewalt cordless I just picked up for xmas. It's pretty strong. I was more concerned with it being too strong.

Not much swirls but does have some surface scratches from being rubbed up against. It also looks like the previous owner had a habit of putting stuff on the roof above the driver door.

Take a good look at the water spots.
They tend to etch into the paint.
Try rubbing it by hand first with a polish and an applicator. It's not going to remove it completely, what you're looking for is to see after it's cleaned up if you can tell how much the water spots have etched in. Look at them at eye level, you would appreciate it better

If they are etched-in, no buffer will ever remove it, because it's eaten thru the clear, you can assess how much. In most cases it may have just started to eat into the paint.
The right way of doing it is using a 2000 grit wet sandpaper and go over it ever so slightly applying light to medium pressure and then buff away.
If you're not expirienced in wet sanding, then this is not the time to learn, a body shop may be your best option.
Again, what determines what to do, is the level of damage the water spot has inflicted onto your paint. I've see some very superficial ones that you can see, but cannot feel with your hands, in other words, you don't feel it's textured yet, those may buff out.
If they're superficial or "fresh", then buffing it may do the job, if they won't buff out after few tries, then stop. It's not going to do you much good at this point.